How to check a trainer before you book

You are handing over an animal to live at somebody else's property for a fortnight. There is almost no regulation of who can call themselves a dog trainer, and the marketing all looks the same.

Here is what I would ask, and I would ask it of me too.

One. How many dogs are there at once?

A straight number. If it is vague, that is the answer.

Twelve dogs and two staff is a boarding kennel with some training in it. That can still be fine for some dogs, and it is not what most people think they are buying when they read the page.

Two. Where do the dogs sleep?

In the house, in a purpose built kennel, in a garage, in a barn. All of these can be appropriate. What matters is that they will tell you plainly and that you can see it.

If you cannot see where your dog will sleep before you book, do not book.

Three. What happens if my dog does not respond to your approach?

This is the question that sorts people. The answer you want is specific and describes changing the plan. We would slow down, we would go back to an easier picture, we would call you and talk about whether this is the right programme.

The answer you do not want is a version of every dog responds to this.

Four. What are you not going to be able to fix in ten days?

Anyone who cannot answer that question in detail is either inexperienced or selling. There is no third option.

Separation anxiety does not resolve in two weeks. Genuine fear of strangers does not. A bite history does not. Adolescence does not get skipped. A trainer who will say so out loud is a trainer who has been doing it long enough to have been wrong publicly.

Five. What does the handover involve, and what happens if I cannot make it?

The handover is the programme. Everything the dog learned has to move across to different hands.

If the answer is a thirty minute pickup and a video link, the transfer is being left to you. That is not automatically disqualifying, but you should know you are buying a trained dog and a manual rather than a trained household.

Six. Can I see a dog who was not a success?

Every trainer has them. Anyone who has worked with a few hundred dogs has cases that went sideways, cases they misread, and cases they sent home early.

A trainer who will talk about one of those is showing you their reasoning. A wall of five star reviews shows you their marketing.

Seven. How long have you been doing this, and with what kind of dogs?

Fourteen years with working breeds is a completely different answer to two years with family pets. Neither one is wrong, and you want the one that matches the dog you actually have.

Ask what they do when a dog arrives that is outside what they usually handle. The answer tells you whether they know their own edges.

What I would ignore

Method labels. Balanced, positive, force free, science based. These tell you which internet argument someone has chosen and very little about whether they can read a dog.

Certifications on their own. Some are rigorous and most are a weekend and a fee. Ask what it involved rather than counting letters.

Before and after footage. Thirty seconds of a heeling dog proves that the dog can heel for thirty seconds in that place with that person. You are buying what happens in your kitchen in March.

The underlying test

You are not assessing method. You are assessing whether this person thinks, whether they will tell you something you do not want to hear, and whether they know the edges of what they can do.

All seven questions are really that one question wearing different clothes.